Potential of Smaller Prospects

Looks like this kid sticks out just fine with a 9.5 PG ranking!

Huh? He was ranked at 9.5 what more are you looking for? Some disconnect here.

Some good advice my son has received is to always project yourself to the next level and figure out where you fit on the field and compare yourself to those players. Where does he fit? MIF, pitcher, he does not have great speed so CF is a maybe.

BTW the best player (IMO) on my son's team that placed fourth in the USA Baseball 16U Championships was 5'8ish.

I was at the South Underclass event in 2009 and saw this young man and he certainly showed some good tools and was graded accordingly with that 9.5 score. With a 9.5 I'm sure he is getting some college attention regardless of his height. He had graded 8.5 at a previous event so I'm sure he's been noticed.

If this young man from Texas is your son, he's a stud! If you're not related to him, I hope you have his families permission to post his info on the board. I'd have to say it really doesn't matter if he's 5'7" or 6'3". He is obviously limited to the OF, 1B, or the mound as a southpaw. If he maintains that height, first base may be a problem? He has a very good arm, decent speed, and apparently some pop in his bat! He can probably play all three OF spots with his tools, and if he has good command, is a definite Two-Way talent. I think he is just fine...and 224 in the national PG ratings (9.5 grade) is pretty good this early in the game! Good luck to him!

highheat you raise a BIG point about the little prospects often overshadowed by the BIG studs.

Even in a game where we know via a Pedroia or an Eckstein example -that there is always room on a roster for big talent dressed in LL size cleats.

I have read Pedroia's book and frankly remain shocked he had upwards of 60+ offers from D1 schools and obviously some from BIG time schools as a 5'5" 130 pound HS graduate?? But he sure has put up on that front and BIG time!

The numbers, as is often the case in this game, really tell a better story of the chances for a diminutive player to make it onto a D1 roster.

Of the 301 2010 D1 rosters out of the approx 9,818 listed players-- only about 90 are listed at 5'7". That is less than 1% of the total# of players.

And man it gets worse if you are under 5'7" where only about 25 out of the 9818 are rostered. That = .25% or a quarter of 1% !!!

You have asked about 5'8 and 5'9ish players for which I do not have approximations but will add--probably a good # of them are "really" 5'7 or under because it is almost a given a lot of teams add a couple inches to players sizes.

Yeah- it does make you wonder how small the 5'7 guys really might be (lol)

If you search on this awesome website forum you will find where another poster had a great break down in the chances (%) of any HS player to make it onto a D1 roster. Those % were frightening to say the least so I can't imagine how or even if it is possible, to combine the 2 and really--not sure as a little guy myself if I care to know the reality of that % (lol)

Is it common to lie about height? Does this mean that because my son lists his actual height, 5'10", it will be assumed he is actually 5'8"?

Many young players do not realize as they move up that need to "fit" somewhere on the field. IE there are profiles that coaches are looking at for specific positions.

He is a Lefty, so that eliminates most of the infield. He is NOT going to play 1st in college. So he goes to the outfield, he has decent speed but not really CF speed, he does not fit the profile of a corner outfielder...so this means he has to be a pitcher or he has to get better speed.

Peninsula,
5'7". Actually, in general they probably look at the kids to determine their height and ignore the listed height more often than not. It is probably the players who list themselves at 6'0" who are most often suspect of fudging.

High heat,
The advantage of the 6'3", 185 lb pitcher over the 5'9", 185 lb pitcher may often be that the taller kid could be considered to be less physically mature and therefore more likely to gain velocity. Surprisingly, a 6'3", 225 lb pitcher with the same stuff and good mechanics might not have that advantage with some evaluators. One thing you may see in a PG evaluation is "good present strength". I think that may be a euphemism for "He's about as strong and mature as he's going to get."

quote:

Originally posted by Peninsula:
Is it common to lie about height? Does this mean that because my son lists his actual height, 5'10", it will be assumed he is actually 5'8"?

To clarify-- I was not suggesting teams lie about players heights/wts but rather was implying that perhaps to present themselves as "bigger" it is done. I do question the logic behind that because it is not football or basketball so if anyone else cares to pipe in as to why this is done please do.

BTW, not many will argue the bumping up is done. We hosted 2 different D1 players over 2 summers and each stood at 5'8 yet both were listed on their team sites as 5'11". This was 2 different colleges.

I see it as one of those unwritten rules where it is OK for the posting college team to bump up players sizes but not as acceptable when a player looking to be recruited --list themselves in their bios or on dvd highlights as being say-- 5'10" when in reality they are maxed out at 5'7".

Exceptions I suppose would be projectability. If their parents are taller then it is an easier sell.

On that segue--if your son is really 5'10" I would recommend listing him at 6 ft just to avoid exactly the kind of thing you implied could happen especially if you or his mom are taller than 5'10.

Remember -- even if a player is 6' 12 inches (?) but can't hit a cage ball or catch a cold then it won't matter -- that is unless the Orioles are still drafting (lol)

Dont worry about ht. You cant control it anyway. If you can play you can play and if you cant you cant. Five starters on my sons college team are under 5-10. A couple are under 5-8. Its not as big of a deal as people think. What is going to matter has nothing to do with your ht.

Coach May pm is headed your way.

We've watched lots of college games the last 2 years and it's amazing how many players about 5'8 are playing D1 college baseball. We live on the West coast so maybe it's more common here but there are lots of shorter players that can flat out play.

It must be. Around Texas, you generally dont find guys that are smaller. Here's what Texas, Rice, and TAMU are packing on their rosters.

http://www.aggieathletics.com/...am-m-basebl-mtt.html

http://www.texassports.com/spo...ex-m-basebl-mtt.html

http://www.riceowls.com/sports...ce-m-basebl-mtt.html

Only one guy under 5-8 coming from A&M. Generally the recruiting stragies of these programs seem to go for more of the bigger "projects" rather than possible smaller but developed players. Just my opinion though.

It will be interesting to see what happens at ASU where Coach Murphy always had "short" players

quote:

Originally posted by highheat15:
It must be. Around Texas, you generally dont find guys that are smaller. Here's what Texas, Rice, and TAMU are packing on their rosters.

You know what they say about Texas.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
It will be interesting to see what happens at ASU where Coach Murphy always had "short" players

TR,
We were at Sunken Diamond last night for a very good game between ASU and Stanford.
The ASU program lists upwards of 2/3's of their players as 6'0".
As my wife pointed out, if those heights were correct, the umpire was about 6'10".
My guess is they measure them wearing cleats.
Didn't matter, they can play, pitch, hit, field and run. That is a very, very good team, with terrific players who sure played the game the right way last night. The size of those players was only an issue if you noticed it. It has nothing to do with the quality of their play.